Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Lazy or just "that clueless"?

Email from student to whom I have recently sent abstracts found in online database:

Statgirl--

It must be me because I have been looking for over 2 hours online and I can't find those articles to read. The abstracts are out there but not the full article. I'm very frustrated...

Dear Stu Dent,

Did you not read the instructions on the library's website, or the handout I gave in class (also posted on blackboard), or come to the library orientation, or listen when I said you CANNOT limit yourself to only full text articles. You have to do a little work ---like look in the full text directory or at least fill out the online interlibrary loan form.

--Statgirl

And I mean a LITTLE work....how did I ever get by in my own undergrad years when I actually had to walk to the library physically and check to see if the book was there and if it wasn't then I had to walk to the interlibrary loan department and fill out the paper form and then walk back again weeks later to pick up the article or book.

Wow!.. that was a lot of walking ...must be why I was thinner then.....yes!..technology has made me gain weight. That is certainly a better thought for the day than thinking that students actually have it hard when I ask them to find 5 empirically based research articles....because that IS so difficult and frustrating!